Cat Sexual Behavior

Needless to say, cat sexual behavior varies between males and females.
The normal age for onset of sexual maturity in female cats is 6 to 9
months of age, but some cats begin as early as 4 or 5 months which can
surprise their owners. In most parts of the USA, the typical “breeding
season” of cats lasts from late January or February through September.

In very temperate areas of the Southeast (southern Texas, Louisiana, and
Florida), the feline breeding season may be year-round. An unsprayed
female cat is known as a “queen,” and she will come into estrus (heat)
and be eager to breed for 5 to 10 days, depending on her age and the
month of the year. After another 1 to 2 weeks, if she hasn’t mated and
the season isn’t over, she’ll come into heat again. Cats can have
several estrus cycles within the breeding season, and therefore are
considered to be “seasonally polyestrous”.

Cat sexual behavior in a female cat in heat is unabashed. She generally
calls loudly and continuously for a mate. She will rub and roll
against other cats, people, and inanimate objects, and may sometimes
mark then with a spray of urine. She will typically assume a posture
called lordosis, in which she crouches down on her forequarters, raises
her hid end into the air, and hold her tail aside. She is particularly
likely to assume this position if she is scratched above her tail.
Unlike female dogs, cats do not normally have a blood-tinged discharge
during estrus.

Cat sexual behavior in males is different. They don’t exhibit such a
distinctive display of sexual readiness but their behavior can be
equally perplexing. Tomcats are legendary for their late-night fighting
and caterwauling and for spraying their territories with
strong-smelling urine. This is more noxious than the urine of a
neutered male cat, thought to be due to a testosterone-stimulated,
sulfur-containing amino acid called felinine, which enters the urine
through the kidneys.

A male kitten who has been previously submissive
to other cats in the house may begin to challenge his place in the
feline family as he become sexually mature; he may even attempt to
dominate human household members. His owners, often unaware of the
cause of his behavior, may be puzzled by the sudden change in his
demeanor.

The sad fact is that millions of homeless cats are euthanized annually and
millions more roam the streets trying to survive. So it’s important
that your cat not be responsible for the birth of another unplanned
litter. You could simply enforce your cat’s abstinence by keeping him
safely confined, without access to intact cats of the opposite sex. But
this tactic will not prevent the cat sexual behavior of spraying,
howling, yowling, and all of the other behaviors that will cause a
racket and smell.

A better solution is surgical sterilization, spay or
neuter surgery. Not only will this routine procedure favorably affect
your cat’s behavior, but it will also safeguard your cat’s health. Spay
surgery, also known as an ovariohysterectomy (OHE) because it involves
the complete removal of the ovaries and the uterus, also eliminates the
possibility that a female cat will ever have a severe uterine infection
(called pyometra). Because the ovaries are entirely removed during the
procedure, ovarian cancer is also prevented.

Despite the tradition of
spaying female cats after they’ve reached puberty, over the past several
decades, veterinarians have begun to perform spays on cats beginning at
7 weeks of age. With modern anesthetics and advanced surgical
techniques, prepubescent sterilization can be accomplished safely before
a young female cat ever has her first estrus cycle.

Neuter surgery of male cats consists of the complete removal of both
testicles, eliminating the possibility of testicular cancer. Although
testicular cancer is reportedly rare in male cats, it is surmised that
this rarity is because an un-neutered male cat rarely lives long enough
to develop the cancer. The days of roaming and fighting that comprise
the life of an average tomcat are often shortened by bite wound
infections, collisions with cars, and the fatal effects of feline
immunodeficiency virus (FIV)…a fatal disease most often transmitted
among fighting males.

Once you’ve had your cat altered, you don’t expect the cat sexual
behavior to involve sexual escapades but there are some neutered cats
that decide a towel, socks or another soft item like a bathmat should be
the object of their ardor and you will see them moving rhythmically
against the item. Masturbatory behavior in cats is not common but it
sometimes happens.

Although female cats may also exhibit the behavior,
it appears to be more common in males. Most people are somewhat
inhibited and find this behavior embarrassing but Dr. Nicholas Dodman ,
DVM, wrote a book in 1997 called “The Cat Who Cried for Help”
and tells the stories of how some of these behaviors were resolved such
as getting a new companion so a cat isn’t alone all the time, getting
toys and videos, walking the cat on a leash.

Many of the causes of this
compulsive behavior are boredom or stress. For example, my cat Max
Factor periodically grooms his genital region when he’s stressed so he
frequently has no hair there. In the past, when he first arrived at our
door as a neutered abandoned stray, he suffered from psychogenic
alopecia which is a disorder whereby a cat grooms himself until the hair
falls out because of stress. This action has disappeared and he has a
good, full coat of hair now with the exception of periodically over
grooming his genital region.

While we may wish that cat sexual behavior wasn’t so noticeable, we must
accept that they are living beings, with hormones, reproductive
instincts and feelings much like those we have. Understanding cat
sexual behavior may not diminish your embarrassment when they
demonstrate these behaviors when you have guests in your home but
perhaps this article will help you understand that those behaviors are
normal.